The Little Brother Effect
The origin of an individual’s sports fandom often ties into a familial relationship that impacted them early on in their life. Sports fandom can also be the great equalizer amongst those that might not have much else in common. Fandom can strengthen the relationships for the family that you are born into, and they can be the foundation for family that you create.
A few times per season my Dad and I would take the trip out to see the New Jersey Nets play at the Continental Arena. These childhood trips started around 2002, during the era where the Nets went to two straight NBA finals. Jason Kidd was the star of well-balanced rosters featuring players such as Kenyon Martin and Richard Jefferson, plus fan favorites Kerry Kittles, Lucious Harris aka “the facemask guy”, and NBA legend Brian Scalabrine. We would arrive to the games early so that we could get as close as possible to watch the players warm up, and every once in a while I would be lucky enough to get an autograph from players as they went back to the locker room. The special moments of spending time with my Dad and bonding during these games impacted my love for the sport, the team, and are memories that will last a lifetime.
The era that followed two consecutive trips to the NBA Finals was my favorite, it was the Vince Carter era. The man was a human highlight reel and I remember exactly where I was when the trade was announced on SportsCenter, even at the young age of 8 years old I was astounded thinking ‘that’s all they had to give up for Vince Carter?’ While I might not have been aware of the ups and downs during his time in Toronto, all I knew was the guy who was known for his gravity defying dunks was coming to my favorite team. Once Carter arrived, the trio of Kidd, Carter, and Jefferson sparked a new energy for the team. Even though it didn’t translate to the same level of playoff success compared to the beginning of the decade, watching Carter crank it up along with nightly triple doubles from Kidd made for my fondest memories as a Nets fan.
A shot of the Barclays Center after the Brooklyn Nets acquired Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce from the Boston Celtics.
After a less memorable era of Nets basketball including a season centered around them competing for the worst record of all time, the future was set on Brooklyn. Once the team had their sights on being the second team in NYC, their main goal was to gain relevance and to attain star power no matter what it took. With Barclays Center under construction and the clock ticking, the first move was the acquisition of All Star point guard Deron Williams. There were constant rumors about Dwight Howard, Carmelo Anthony, and the team was even amongst the few to sit down with Lebron James during his infamous 2010 Summer meetings. The Twittersphere became part of a daily routine to see what the latest updates would be on the top players in the league and if there was a chance they could wind up on the Nets. Although none of these major signings or trades came to fruition, my Dad and I were still enthusiastic about the move to Brooklyn. We went to visit the Barclays Center as soon as it opened to get a glimpse of what our new home looked like.
My Dad and I first visited the Barclays Center before it officially opened in 2012
Going forward The Little Brother effect was apparent, with moves that were meant to win the back of the newspaper rather than well-thought out team building strategies. Start off with trading the draft pick that would become Damian Lillard for role player Gerald Wallace, followed by handing over 5 years of drafts picks to the Boston Celtics for the declining years of Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce, and finishing it off with taking on Joe Johnson’s contract and you’ve got yourself a recipe for disaster. These moves were not factoring in long term sustainability, it was simply to garner interest from a new market and put big names on the floor. It’s a lesson that goes to show you can’t create fandom overnight.
The aftermath of these short-sighted moves led to one of the best turnarounds in recent history from General Manager Sean Marks. It was a simple plan that took patience and persistence, take on large contracts and recoup draft picks while assembling young players that worked hard and would buy into the new culture. Using the strength of this new culture, they could put together a roster that New Yorkers could begin to identify with. The team was gritty, hard-working, and even had a little bit of flare. This plan involved acquisition of players like D'Angelo Russell, Joe Harris, Spencer Dinwiddie, and many others who had been cast aside but in a well-structured environment, without pressure, could thrive. With the right player development, and a patient fanbase, the results started to show. This team that lacked star power developed into a fun, tight-knit group that had a true identity. This translated to an increase in their popularity amongst fans locally and as we would find out, was noticeable to other players in the league.
It was a warm Summer day in Central Park, when my Knicks friends and I were chatting about the latest Woj Bombs, trying to figure out who was going to land Kevin Durant. After one of many refreshes of the Twitter feed, the breaking news was a delight to see. The Nets defied the odds and got their guy, emphasized from a text from my Dad and his flip phone simply stating “Durant!” The greatest part of finding out about this when I did was the look on my friends faces who had to cope with the fact that Durant and Kyrie Irving chose to play for The Little Brother in what can be labeled the biggest free agent signings in New York City basketball history. My Knicks friends typically have to deal with miserable things happening to them, and being with them when this news dropped was a truly special moment for me as a Knicks hater.
This type of franchise changing move has major ramifications both short-term and long-term. There is a noticeable uptick in younger fans wearing #7 for Durant or #11 for Irving throughout the city; these younger fans will remember wearing these jerseys and supporting the Brooklyn Nets when reflecting back on their first moments of basketball fandom. In an interview with Forbes. Durant had similar sentiment, stating “a championship would be a whole other level, but injecting new energy into a city through basketball would be even cooler.”
The Nets will not overtake the Knicks as New York City’s team anytime soon, if ever. But an argument can be made that if you were trying to take a chunk out of New York’s basketball allegiance, this would be the path to creating lifelong fans. Acquiring superstars can change the perception of the team, especially for young fans or for some deprived Knicks fans that have had enough of losing and terrible ownership. My choice of being a Nets fan had to do with connecting with my Dad, but it also had to do with supporting a team that was successful and fun to watch. If the upcoming era of Nets basketball includes bringing the first basketball championship to New York City since 1973, then the team that younger fans will support in their formative years should be crystal clear. Making an impact on the next generation of basketball in this city and creating lifelong fans is the ultimate goal for The Little Brother franchise in Brooklyn.